Dan Orlovsky Kicks Off Justin Fields MVP Conversation

It's hard to recall anything quite like the turnaround we've seen from Justin Fields this year. Young QBs like him often have The Moment where the switch flips and suddenly they're awesome. We're seeing the aftermath of that right now with Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts. But rarely do we see that switch flip mid-season. And the change is never so extreme.

Until quite recently, Fields was awful. His 190-yard performance against Washington on Thursday Night Football in Week 6 was one of the worst displays of quarterbacking we've seen all year. The Bears didn't know how to utilize his running ability and Fields couldn't hit the rare easy passes when they popped up a few times a game. It felt like a tremendous waste of his talents and a justification of all the criticism people had about Fields' ability to read defenses from the pocket.

Then the Bears did... something! And suddenly Fields turned into an electric talent on par with the best in the league. He led Chicago to a 33-14 win against the Patriots in Foxborough in Week 7, an extremely difficult task for anybody, much less a young QB. Then Fields went on a tear and it hasn't ended yet. In the last three weeks, Fields has totaled 11 touchdowns and turned the ball over only once. He broke the NFL record for most rushing yards in a regular-season game. In a month's span the sophomore QB has completely flipped the narrative surrounding both him and his team, arguably a greater feat than anything he's done so far.

Dan Orlovsky cranked it all up to 11 on Get Up this morning and argued Fields' play is catapulting him into the MVP conversation.

The one thing I didn't mention above? The Bears are 0-3 in their last three games. They sit at 3-7 on the year. Fields has been outstanding but it has not translated to winning which is a prerequisite for MVP candidacy.

We can appreciate how great Fields has been without elevating him into the MVP conversation. And honestly, as good as he's been, he still doesn't hold a candle to his peers who will actually be receiving MVP votes come season's ends. Fields has only thrown for 441 yards over the last three contests with an average of 6.2 yards gained per passing attempt. That would rank 33rd in the NFL if he did it over a full year, tying him with Mitchell Trubisky. In fairness, the passing game doesn't matter as much when Fields is averaging a whopping 7.2 yards per carry and has more yards on the ground than Aaron Jones, Dalvin Cook, and Jonathan Taylor.

Still. Fields is not an MVP candidate. Even if he plays like this the rest of the year he will not be an MVP candidate. We can admit that while acknowledging that the Ohio State product is fun and awesome and a blast to watch.